The situation at the Belarus-Polish border is tense, but for now peaceful as migrants try to flee an oppressive regime in Belarus, and one might question when will the world understand that people do not like, or thrive under a socialist system, especially an extreme one like what exists in Belarus. A large group of Belarusian forces was moving toward the migrant camp on Tuesday and Poland was bracing for anything to happen but hoping that all stays peaceful. The Associated Press has the story:
Tensions flared as a large group of migrants sought to illegally push their way into Poland, but Polish forces repelled them, and then the migrants settled into camp
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish riot police and coils of razor wire faced off Tuesday against migrants, including families with young children, who were camped just across the border in Belarus, amid a tense standoff on the European Union’s eastern border.
Migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere gather at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Poland increased security at its border with Belarus, on the European Union’s eastern border, after a large group of migrants in Belarus appeared to be congregating at a crossing point, officials said Monday. The development appeared to signal an escalation of a crisis that has being going on for months in which the autocratic regime of Belarus has encouraged migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere to illegally enter the European Union, at first through Lithuania and Latvia and now primarily through Poland. (Leonid Shcheglov/BelTA via AP)
Polish authorities reported that the situation on the border was calm overnight and earlier Tuesday, but authorities said they were bracing for any possibility. Poland’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that a large group of Belarusian forces was moving toward the migrant camp.
There was no way to independently verify what was happening, however. Journalists have limited ability to operate in Belarus and a state of emergency in Poland kept reporters and others out of the border area.
Migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere, one holding his child, gather at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Poland increased security at its border with Belarus, on the European Union’s eastern border, after a large group of migrants in Belarus appeared to be congregating at a crossing point, officials said Monday. The development appeared to signal an escalation of a crisis that has being going on for months in which the autocratic regime of Belarus has encouraged migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere to illegally enter the European Union, at first through Lithuania and Latvia and now primarily through Poland. (Leonid Shcheglov/BelTA via AP)
A day earlier tensions flared as a large group of migrants sought to illegally push their way into Poland, according to video footage posted on social media by Polish authorities.
Polish forces repelled them, and then the migrants settled into a camp overnight, with tents and campfires along the border.
Monday’s siege escalated a crisis along the border that has been simmering for months in which the authoritarian regime of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has encouraged migrants to illegally enter the EU.
Polish border guards stand near the barbed wire as migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere gather at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Poland increased security at its border with Belarus, on the European Union’s eastern border, after a large group of migrants in Belarus appeared to be congregating at a crossing point, officials said Monday. The development appeared to signal an escalation of a crisis that has being going on for months in which the autocratic regime of Belarus has encouraged migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere to illegally enter the European Union, at first through Lithuania and Latvia and now primarily through Poland. (Leonid Shcheglov/BelTA via AP)
The EU reacted Tuesday by tightening visa rules for Belarus officials over what it is calling a “hybrid attack” against the 27-country bloc.
EU headquarters said that it was “partially suspending” an agreement it has with Belarus that eases visa rules.
The move hits Belarusian members of the government, lawmakers, diplomats, and top court representatives. It increases travel red tape and requires them to provide extra documents and pay more for visas.
Migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere rest on the ground as they gather at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Poland increased security at its border with Belarus, on the European Union’s eastern border, after a large group of migrants in Belarus appeared to be congregating at a crossing point, officials said Monday. The development appeared to signal an escalation of a crisis that has being going on for months in which the autocratic regime of Belarus has encouraged migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere to illegally enter the European Union, at first through Lithuania and Latvia and now primarily through Poland. (Leonid Shcheglov/BelTA via AP)
In videos posted on Twitter, tents and campfires can be seen, in near-freezing temperatures, as the Polish police play an announcement warning the migrants that crossing the Polish border is only allowed at official border crossings, where visas are required.
But as of early Tuesday, the nearest crossing point, in Kuznica, in the northeast of the country, was closed.
Migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere chops down trees as they gather at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Poland increased security at its border with Belarus, on the European Union’s eastern border, after a large group of migrants in Belarus appeared to be congregating at a crossing point, officials said Monday. The development appeared to signal an escalation of a crisis that has being going on for months in which the autocratic regime of Belarus has encouraged migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere to illegally enter the European Union, at first through Lithuania and Latvia and now primarily through Poland. (Leonid Shcheglov/BelTA via AP)
The situation marks an escalation in months of migration pressure against Lithuania and Poland, and to a lesser extent Latvia, the three EU states on the bloc’s eastern border with Belarus. The EU says Belarus is building the pressure, intending to destabilize the bloc in retaliation for Western sanctions.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, accompanied by Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak, went to the border on Tuesday morning to meet with border guards and other security officials. Morawiecki praised them, also on behalf of the EU, for their “effective defense of our border.”
A Polish military helicopter fly over a group of migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere gathering at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Poland increased security at its border with Belarus, on the European Union’s eastern border, after a large group of migrants in Belarus appeared to be congregating at a crossing point, officials said Monday. The development appeared to signal an escalation of a crisis that has being going on for months in which the autocratic regime of Belarus has encouraged migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere to illegally enter the European Union, at first through Lithuania and Latvia and now primarily through Poland. (Leonid Shcheglov/BelTA via AP)
“We do not know what else Lukashenko’s regime will come up with — this is the reality,” Morawiecki said.
Meanwhile, the Lithuanian government on Tuesday asked parliament to declare a state of emergency along the border with Belarus for a month from midnight.
The state of emergency would be in place along the border stretch and five kilometers (three miles) inland, as well as in migrant accommodation facilities in Vilnius and elsewhere in the country.
The measure would include restricting the right of irregular migrants accommodated in Lithuania to communicate in writing or by phone except to contact the country’s authorities.
A man carries a child as he gathers with other migrants at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Poland increased security at its border with Belarus, on the European Union’s eastern border, after a large group of migrants in Belarus appeared to be congregating at a crossing point, officials said Monday. The development appeared to signal an escalation of a crisis that has being going on for months in which the autocratic regime of Belarus has encouraged migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere to illegally enter the European Union, at first through Lithuania and Latvia and now primarily through Poland. (Leonid Shcheglov/BelTA via AP)
The migrants are mostly people from the Mideast and Africa who have seized on the opening of a new migration route to enter Europe, often seeking to reach family members who have already immigrated to Germany or other countries in western Europe.
Poland has received strong signals of support and solidarity from the EU and EU member states and the United States as it faces its border crisis.
Germany’s outgoing interior minister, Horst Seehofer, said on Tuesday that all EU countries “must stand together, because Lukashenko is using people’s fates with the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin to destabilize the West.” He called for the European Commission to support Poland in securing the border.
Children look out from a tent as migrants gather at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Poland increased security at its border with Belarus, on the European Union’s eastern border, after a large group of migrants in Belarus appeared to be congregating at a crossing point, officials said Monday. The development appeared to signal an escalation of a crisis that has being going on for months in which the autocratic regime of Belarus has encouraged migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere to illegally enter the European Union, at first through Lithuania and Latvia and now primarily through Poland. (Leonid Shcheglov/BelTA via AP)
“The Poles are fulfilling a very important service for the whole of Europe,” he said.
So far Poland’s ruling nationalists have refused help from Frontex, the EU’s border agency.
Many of the migrants fly to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on tourist visas, and from there travel by taxi to the border with Poland. The EU is seeking to pressure airlines not to facilitate the illegal migration.
Men shout slogans as they gathers with other migrants at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Poland increased security at its border with Belarus, on the European Union’s eastern border, after a large group of migrants in Belarus appeared to be congregating at a crossing point, officials said Monday. The development appeared to signal an escalation of a crisis that has being going on for months in which the autocratic regime of Belarus has encouraged migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere to illegally enter the European Union, at first through Lithuania and Latvia and now primarily through Poland. (Leonid Shcheglov/BelTA via AP)
Although direct flights from Iraq to Minsk were suspended in August, migrants have been flying into Belarus via commercial and chartered flights from Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and even Russia, according to recent internal EU migration reports seen by The Associated Press.
Police officers block the road to enter the area of the border to Belarus near Koznica, Poland, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. Poland increased security at its border with Belarus, on the European Union’s eastern border, after a large group of migrants in Belarus appeared to be congregating at a crossing point, officials said Monday. The development appeared to signal an escalation of a crisis that has being going on for months in which the autocratic regime of Belarus has encouraged migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere to illegally enter the European Union, at first through Lithuania and Latvia and now primarily through Poland. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
On social media, smugglers have advertised transportation from Belarus to Germany by car. Drivers smuggling people across the Polish-German border were mainly from non-EU countries, according to the reports, although there were also EU nationals involved. Many of the migrants have ended up in Germany. But some continued their journey all the way to Finland by ferry via Sweden, one report said.
By VANESSA GERA and MONIKA SCISLOWSKA
Geir Moulson in Berlin, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Liudas Dapkus in Vilnius, Lithuania, and Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain, contributed.
